carteki wrote:I didn't know where Singapore was until I moved here. I know that we 'bash' American's for not being aware as to there is a world outside their borders, but Singapore is a pin-prick. We can't expect everyone to know everything.

Yes, people do bash Americans for this, but it's always struck me as really lame.

Most 'bashers' couldn't name the state capitals of New York and California even if they tried. So, given their immense scale and GDPs relative to where the bashers hail from, you might ask who is ignorant now?

Follow up asking such people the capitals of Canada, Australia and South Africa which most people can't name, and it reveals a rather more level playing field I think!

aster wrote:What exactly is the Indonesian thing about in the first picture?

Wikipedia explains it thus:

"Originally, it was apparently used to refer to Singapore in a disparaging manner by former Indonesian President B.J. Habibie (though this was denied by him), but has come to be used by both Singaporean politicians and ordinary citizens with pride and a sense of the nation's success despite its physical limitations."

nutnut wrote:To be fair, I never knew where Singapore was until I started working with people from here! that was a number of years ago, but I was old enough to know better!

I know where it is now of course!

I don't really remember not knowing where it was, but I suppose my wife had to educate me regarding Singapore's location when we first met. More than 10 years later it still surprises me when people ask what part of China it's in though. I'm positive I never thought that!

I use mostly Agilent instrumentation at work, and it's amazing how many have a Singapore serial number, but I can't say I've ever seen any other product here labeled "made in Singapore," which is probably why most Americans don't know much about it.

Usually if you mention Singapore, the caning image is what most people describe. I always respond that the US has the same laws, we just don't enforce most well. I remember friends and I spitting on the sidewalk from a 4th floor rooftop as kids, trying to mess around with the late night beat cop. I'll never forget his threat to arrest me for spitting on the sidewalk! Who would have known that was a crime.

I believe in 80's and early 90's all the types of electronic good that come today with the label "made in China" were coming with "made in Singapore" or Hong Kong and if somebody was into assembly of PCs many many components like hard drives were also manufactured here. I still have some hard drives made by Maxtor or Seagate made in Singapore.
Only until recently big companies like Philips had their manufacturing units for consumer electronics in Singapore.

Yes indeed. There always seemed to be a world map on the classroom wall, with all the pink bits representing the erstwhile British Empire. I wonder why the chose pink btw? It probably didn't have the same connotations back then as now.